UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C.  20549

 
FORM 8-K

 
CURRENT REPORT
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
 
Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported):  December 5, 2014
 
MORNINGSTAR, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Illinois	 	000-51280	 	36-3297908	
(State or other jurisdiction
of incorporation)	 	(Commission
File Number)	 	(I.R.S. Employer
Identification No.)	

22 West Washington Street
Chicago, Illinois	 	60602	
(Address of principal executive offices)	 	(Zip Code)	
 
(312) 696-6000
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)
 
N/A
(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)

 
Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:
 
o    Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)
 
o    Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)
 
o             Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))
 
o             Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c)

 

 
Item 8.01.  Other Events.
 
On December 5, 2014, Morningstar issued a press release announcing that its Board of Directors has approved a quarterly cash dividend of 19 cents per share payable January 30, 2015 to shareholders of record as of January 9, 2015.  A copy of the press release is filed as Exhibit 99.1 to this Form 8-K.
 
Item 9.01.  Financial Statements and Exhibits.
 
(d)        Exhibits:

Exhibit No.	 	Description	
 	 	 	
99.1	 	Press Release dated December 5, 2014.	
 
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SIGNATURES
 
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

 	MORNINGSTAR, INC.	

Date: December 8, 2014	By:	/s/ Richard E. Robbins	
 	Name:	Richard E. Robbins	
 	Title:	General Counsel and Corporate Secretary	
 
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Exhibit 99.1

	 		

Media Contact:
 
Margaret Kirch Cohen, +1 312-696-6383 or margaret.cohen@morningstar.com
 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
Morningstar, Inc. Declares Regular Quarterly Dividend; Increases Dividend to 19 Cents Per Share
 
CHICAGO, Dec. 5, 2014—The board of directors of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment research, today declared a quarterly dividend of 19 cents per share payable Jan. 30, 2015 to shareholders of record as of Jan. 9, 2015. The declaration reflects an increase in the quarterly dividend to 19 cents per share from 17 cents.
 
While subsequent dividends will be subject to board approval, the company expects to pay three additional quarterly dividends in 2015:

Record Date	 	Payable Date	
 	 	 	
April 10, 2015	 	April 30, 2015	
 	 	 	
July 10, 2015	 	July 31, 2015	
 	 	 	
Oct. 9, 2015	 	Oct. 30, 2015	
 
About Morningstar, Inc.
 
Morningstar, Inc. is a leading provider of independent investment research in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The company offers an extensive line of products and services for individual investors, financial advisors, asset managers, and retirement plan providers and sponsors. Morningstar provides data on approximately 479,000 investment offerings, including stocks, mutual funds, and similar vehicles, along with real-time global market data on more than 13 million equities, indexes, futures, options, commodities, and precious metals, in addition to foreign exchange and Treasury markets. Morningstar also offers investment management services through its investment advisory subsidiaries and had approximately $169 billion in assets under advisement and management as of Sept. 30, 2014. The company has operations in 27 countries.
 
Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
 
This press release contains forward-looking statements as that term is used in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on our current expectations about future events or future financial performance. Forward-looking statements by their nature

 
address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain, and often contain words such as “may,” “could,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “seek,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” or “continue.” These statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause the events we discuss not to occur or to differ significantly from what we expect. For us, these risks and uncertainties include, among others, liability for any losses that result from an actual or claimed breach of our fiduciary duties; failing to differentiate our products and continuously create innovative, proprietary research tools; failing to respond to technological change, keep pace with new technology developments, or adopt a successful technology strategy; a prolonged outage of our database and network facilities; any failures or disruptions in our electronic delivery systems and the Internet; liability and/or damage to our reputation as a result of some of our pending litigation; liability related to the storage of personal information about our users; general industry conditions and competition, including global financial uncertainty, trends in the mutual fund industry, and continued growth in passively managed investment vehicles; the effect of market volatility on revenue from asset-based fees; failing to maintain and protect our brand, independence, and reputation; changes in laws applicable to our investment advisory or credit rating operations, compliance failures, or regulatory action; and challenges faced by our non-U.S. operations, including the concentration of development work at our offshore facilities in China and India. A more complete description of these risks and uncertainties can be found in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2013. If any of these risks and uncertainties materialize, our actual future results may vary significantly from what we expected. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements as a result of new information or future events.
 
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©2014 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
 
MORN-C